Building block

ABSTRACT

A building block includes ends having recesses and ribs. Each block end has a recess about ½ the width of a stud in the upper portion so that when blocks are placed end to end they can support a stud. The front and back of the blocks ends have vertical braces or protrusions that form vertical recesses for mortar and a mortar overflow area. The front of the block can have a facade with its ends extending around its front corners.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

A building block includes end recesses, that support studs, and groovesfor reception of mortar and overflow and can have a decorative frontface.

2. Description of Related Art

The use of recesses for studs, H. Palmer, U.S. Pat. No. 674,874, issued28 May 1901; and Hood et al, U.S. Pat. No. 828,818, issued 14 Aug. 1906;and D. Thorpe, U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,479, issued 10 May 2005; and endprotrusions and recesses, B. Van Camp, U.S. Pat. No. 738,643, issued 8Sep. 1903; and V. Rowland, U.S. Pat. No. 1,567,085, issued 29 Dec. 1925;J. Barnhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,002, issued 11 Jan. 1977; and G.Hanson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,326, issued 9 Oct. 1984; and D. Sherwood,U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,635, issued 10 Feb. 1998, per se is old. Placing afacade on a block face, per se, is old with R. Dula, U.S. Pat. No.1,411,005, issued 28 Mar. 1922 and D. Forman, U.S. Pat. No. 1,751,272,issued 18 Mar. 1930, examples.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A building block has on each end recesses for reception of studs placedbetween two blocks placed end to end. The ends are also provided withvertical braces and vertical recesses and mortar overflow areas forstrengthening the block ends using mortar in the recesses and overflowareas. A facade can be placed on the block front face and extend aroundthe front face ends.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of the block of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective front view of two blocks of the invention shownend to end.

FIG. 3 is a perspective rear view of two blocks of the invention shownend to end.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the blocks of the invention showing theblocks forming a wall with a stud in position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The building block 1 of the invention, shown in FIG. 1, has anessentially standard rear wall 2 with rear face 6, front wall 8 withfront face 7 and central rib 9 defining openings or passages 3 in theblock. The end walls 4,5 are modified to accommodate studs and providefor vertical mortar grooves 12,14 in the front and back of the block endwalls 4,5 parallel to the rear wall surface 6 and front wall surface 7.

The building block 1 is designed to be sturdy and capable of supportinga stud at its ends when a first block is laid end to end with a secondblock. The rear walls 2 of the blocks and end walls 4,5 are providedwith stud recesses 11 at the upper rear areas perpendicular to the rearsurface 6.

The end walls 4,5 both have a stud mortar recess 12 extending verticallyparallel to the rear face 6 of the block, into which a seam of mortarcan be placed during laying of the blocks. The stud mortar recesses 12begin at the base surface 35 of the stud recesses 11 and extendvertically to the bottom surface 27 of the block. A similar verticalmortar recess 14 is provided adjacent the front face 7 in both end walls4,5. These recesses extend from the top surface 26 of the block to thebottom surface 27 of the block. A seam of mortar is placed in therecesses 14 during block laying. As is standard practice during layingbricks and building blocks, an excess of mortar is placed on the base orbottom of the blocks along their front and back edges and along theirend edges or at these locations on the previously laid blocks underthese areas. To securely hold the ends together, the stud mortarrecesses 12 and rear mortar recesses 14 are filled with excess mortar.The excess is necessary to provide for the gap, often deliberatelyformed between blocks, and to make up for the slightly varying sizeblocks. The excess mortar is squeezed out as the blocks are forcedtogether and positioned to form a wall. The excess in the rear wall isremoved as usual, except that the stud mortar recess 12 provides acolumn of mortar between the blocks that secure the blocks in place inaddition to the standard thin seam of mortar that is usually providedbetween the block ends. This, in combination with the front bracers 15and rear bracers 19, gives a firm hold to the blocks ends.

The front mortar recesses 14 provide the same function on the front endsof the blocks as the seam formed in the rear end mortar recesses 12.Mortar overflow areas 13 are provided inward to the rear of mortarrecesses 14 by a mortar backing 16 that tapers back in an overflow taper18 into the mortar overflow areas 13 to provide for additional mortarthickened areas. In this manner the blocks are firmly held together bythe mortar and bracing provided on the building blocks to preclude theblocks from being slipped from each other. Each block end has fourbraces 15,16,17,19 and two mortar columns or recesses 12,14 in additionto the mortar overflow into taper areas 13 past the backings 16 and pastthe backings 17 also into the taper areas 13.

The stud recesses 11 are recessed areas in the block left end wall 4 andright end wall 5 at the block rear extending perpendicular to the blockrear surface 6, designed to accommodate and support studs. The blockends at their lower rear have stud supports with stud base surfaces 35that are part of the block end walls 4,5 and extend upward from theblock bottom surface 27 from 10 to 50% the height of the block toprovide support for a stud placed in a stud recess 11. The stud recessis open at the block back and sides and extends inwardly from the blockback surface 6 from 15 to 50% of the block depth and the stud recess hasa width of from ¼ to 2 the width of a stud or extend out from ¾ to 2½inches from the vertical stud side surface 34. This width canaccommodate ½ a stud with the block ends abutting or permit a wide seamof mortar and/or facade overlap, yet give a solid support. The surfacesfor the stud recesses are the stud side end surfaces 34, that extendperpendicular to the rear surface 6 and parallel with the end wallsurfaces 24,25, the stud base surfaces 35 that extend perpendicular tothe rear surface and parallel with the block bottom surface 27 tosupport a stud, and the front surfaces 18 that extend parallel with therear surface 6 and perpendicular to the block bottom surface 27. Toinsure that the block has maximum support for a stud and also, ifdesired, to accommodate facade end wrap-around 22,23 at the block ends,the stud recess base surfaces 35 and the side end surfaces 41 can beextended out from ⅛ to ½ inch beyond the other portions of the blockends. This extension allows adjacent blocks to abut in the rear, ifdesired, giving full support to a stud resting on the stud recess base35, and/or the ends 22,23 of a facade facing 21 to abut giving theappearance of a continuous facade.

The rear braces 19 run vertically with a rear surface coextensive withthe block rear surface 6 and are essentially protrusions on the blocksleft rear wall 4 and right rear wall 5 extending vertically down fromthe bases 35 of the stud recesses 11 to the block bottom 27 with thefront walls of the rear braces 19 being the rear surfaces 31 of the studmortar recesses 12.

The stud mortar recesses 12 extend parallel to the rear surface 6 andinwardly from and adjacent to the rear face. They have rear surfaces 31that extend parallel to the rear surface 6 and back vertical surfaces 32that extend perpendicular to the rear surface 6 and the rear verticalsurfaces 31, and have front vertical surfaces 33 that extend parallel tothe rear surface 6 and perpendicular to the vertical back surfaces 32with the rear surfaces being the front faces of the rear braces 19.

The stud wall protrusions 17 extend out from the block end walls belowthe top stud recess base surface 35 to the block bottom surface 27 andform the rear extremity of the tapered overflow area 13. They extendparallel to the rear surface 6 of the block and perpendicular to theblock bottom surface 27. They have outer surfaces 37 and front surfaces38. The front surfaces 38 of the stud wall protrusions 17 form rearwalls for the mortar overflow areas 13.

The mortar overflow areas 13 extend from the stud walls 17 toward thefront surface 7 of the block in the block ends 4,5. They are formed bythe front surfaces 38 of the stud walls 17 side end surfaces 39 andoverflow tapered surfaces 18 below the stud recess base surfaces 35.

The mortar backing braces 16 form backing supports and limitedconfinement for mortar used in the front mortar recesses 14 and protrudeoutward from the block ends and extend essentially parallel to the blockfront surface 7 and perpendicular to the block bottom surface 27. Theyhave rear tapered surfaces 18, side end surfaces 41, and front facesurfaces 42.

The front mortar recesses 14 present broadened and confining areas formortar used to join blocks end to end. The recesses extend parallel tothe front block surface 7 and perpendicular to the block bottom surface27 adjacent the block ends. They are formed by the mortar backing bracesfront vertical face surfaces 42, back vertical surfaces 43 and frontvertical surfaces 44 parallel to front surface 7.

The front braces 15 are essentially a continuation of the block frontwall 8. They form the forward end of the front mortar recesses 14, andin part confine mortar within the mortar recesses 14. They run parallelto the front surface face 7 of the block and perpendicular to the bottomsurface 27. They are defined by the front surfaces of the front mortarrecesses 44, outer vertical end surfaces 45, and essentially areacontinuation of the block front wall 8 into the end walls 4,5.

FIG. 2 is a front view of two blocks placed end to end with the facade21 showing and having the facade right end 22 of the left block abuttingthe facade left end 23 of the right block.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of two blocks placed end to end forming a studrecess 28 by two adjacent stud recesses 11 placed side by side.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the blocks of the invention formingwalls. The lower tier of blocks have a stud recess 11 showing on theright end and stud slot 28 shown on the left end formed by adjacentblocks. A stud 30 is shown in the stud slot formed between the blocks onthe upper tier.

It is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of thisinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is to beunderstood that the present disclosure is illustrative only and thatchanges, variations, substitutions, modifications and equivalents willbe readily apparent to one skilled in the art and that such may be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by thefollowing claims.

1. A building block comprising: a molded block forming a front face, aback face, end faces, a top surface and a bottom surface; said block endfaces adjacent said back face having a stud recess; said stud recessopening upwardly to said block top surface and outwardly to said blockback surface; said stud recess being formed by a forward vertical wall,a vertical side wall and a horizontal base; vertical mortar recessesextending along said block end face; said vertical mortar recesses beingformed by braces that extend vertically on said block end faces.
 2. Abuilding block as in claim 1 wherein: one said vertical mortar recessextends from said stud recess horizontal base to said block bottomsurface.
 3. A building block as in claim 2 wherein: said one verticalmortar recess extending from said stud recess horizontal base is a firstvertical recess; a second vertical recess extends adjacent said blockfront face and extends from said block top surface to said block bottomsurface.
 4. A building block as in claim 1 wherein: said vertical mortarrecesses extend adjacent said front surface from said block top surfaceto said block bottom surface.
 5. A building block as in claim 4 wherein:said vertical mortar recesses extending adjacent said front surface areformed between a front brace and mortar backing.
 6. A building block asin claim 5 wherein: said mortar backing forms one side of a mortaroverflow area extending vertically between said mortar backing and saidstud recess.
 7. A building block as in claim 5 wherein: said mortarbacking front face is parallel to said block front face; said mortarbacking rear face is tapered towards said mortar overflow area.
 8. Abuilding block as in claim 3 wherein: third mortar overflow arearecesses extend parallel to said first vertical mortar recesses andextend parallel to said second vertical mortar recesses, between saidstud recess and said front mortar recess.
 9. A building block as inclaim 8 wherein: said vertical mortar recesses extending adjacent saidfront surface are formed between a front brace and mortar backing; saidmortar backing forms one side of a mortar overflow area extendingvertically between said mortar backing and said stud recess; said mortarbacking front face is parallel to said block front face; said mortarbacking rear face is tapered towards said mortar overflow area.
 10. Abuilding block as in claim 1 wherein: said stud horizontal base extendsout beyond said block end faces.
 11. A building block as in claim 1including: a facade attached to said block front face.
 12. A buildingblock as in claim 11 wherein: said facade has ends that extend aroundthe ends of said block front face onto said block end faces.
 13. Abuilding block as in claim 8 wherein: stud wall protrusions extend outon said block end faces extending from said top surface to said bottomsurface at the stud recess forward vertical wall.
 14. A building blockas in claim 13 wherein: said stud wall protrusions form a back wall forsaid mortar overflow area.
 15. A building block as in claim 14including: a facade attached to said block front face.
 16. A buildingblock as in claim 15 wherein: said facade has ends that extend aroundthe ends of said block front face onto said block end faces.
 17. Abuilding block as in claim 1 wherein: said stud horizontal base extendsupward from said block bottom surface, 10 to 50% of the distance betweensaid block bottom surface and said block top surface.
 18. A buildingblock as in claim 1 wherein: said stud forward vertical wall extendsfrom said block back face 15 to 50% the distance between said block backface and said block front face.
 19. A building block as in claim 17wherein: said stud forward vertical wall extends from said block backface 15 to 50% the distance between said block back face and said blockfront face.
 20. A building block as in claim 1 wherein: said stud recessextends out from said stud recess vertical side wall from ¾ to 2½inches.